[:"blue"] Glider Greetings: <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

There have been a number of posts here associating galvanized cage wire with UTI's. On the other hand the are plenty of people using galvanized cages who [:"purple"]NEVER [:"blue"]have any problems.

I don't believe I have ever seen an explanation for WHY gliders are more susceptible to UTI in galvanized cages than in coated wire cages. Anyone have any thoughts or explanations??? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nixweiss.gif" alt="" />
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think of your chain link fence, rub your hand across it, see the residue? gliders urine causes a chemical reaction on the wire. cleaning is of the utmost importance, they rub their cloacal area directly on it.. galvanized wire rusts if not dried completely,,, it retains the urine smells much more than coated wire... there are also breeders of multi many gliders that used to use galvanized, but they have switched over. we can expand on that to say almost all of the sm's have been in galvanized cages or had bare metal in the cage.... but not all of them in galvanized cages are self mutilators... custom cage works has a copper nest box, and has sold thousands of them, but does copper have chemical reactions??? maybe after all tarnish is common with copper.. the iron in water causes a chemical reaction to copper, turns it green...

As Bourbon mentioned there is a problem with UTIs when gliders
reside in a galvanized cage. One of the major reasons for not
using the galvanized wire is zinc and metal toxic poisoning.
The gliders climb on the wire and get the zinc residue on their hands. Then when they handle their food the zinc is
injested. Thus the poisoning of the system. There were quiet
a few gliders that died from this before the cause was
found. If I remember correctly, the Preston Road Clinic in
Dallas discovered this in several gliders a few years back.
One of the ladies that worked there called us and warned
us about it. As for the copper, I have seen the residue
build up on copper piping and would highly recomend not
using it in a gliders cage. Maybe with regular cleaning
with vinegar and then rinsing with water these materials
could be used safely. But why take the chance.
mary h & Charlie

[:"blue"] Glider Greetings: <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for the info. Not sure that I fully understand the mechanism yet; but, am going to do a little more reading before I pursue this further. [/]